Gustavo Arellano is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, covering Southern California everything and a bunch of the West and beyond. He previously worked at OC Weekly, where he was an investigative reporter for 15 years and editor for six, wrote a column called ¡Ask a Mexican! and is the author of “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.” He’s the child of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom came to this country in the trunk of a Chevy.
Latest From This Author
There are two trees that I need to kill. When I get rid of them, that’s it. I can’t plant replacements. I live in a quarantine zone.
The Virgin of Guadalupe’s image is part of Southern California’s visual landscape.
Over the phone, Lena Gonzalez’s voice had the patient but proud tone of a lawyer charged with defending the damned.
I was excited to see so many voices, new and familiar, dominate the 2024 nonfiction releases, showing that Latinas have played important roles in the Southern California story and deserve far more recognition.
Madrigal vs. Quilligan continues to be taught in universities and retold in academic books as a cautionary tale, its plaintiffs hailed as reproductive-rights heroines.
I’ve spent my career trying to sway skeptics that people here illegally are no different from native-born citizens. That nearly all embody the immigrant spirit.
If Tran wins, Chispa will have succeeded outside its base for the first time, showing that O.C. is about to enter a new political era — despite MAGA’s takeover of Washington.
Ninety years after his failed run for California governor, Upton Sinclair is smiling down on us from socialist heaven.
I’ve seen Jurado’s remarkable journey from political longshot to surprise winner to history maker. Now, everyone wants an audience with her.
After Trump’s victory, the Latino backlash against Prop. 187 and the subsequent Democratic takeover of California looks more like an exception than a rule.